In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in the shipping case, or box, to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Since paper is biodegradable, recyclable and produced from a renewable resource, paper protective packaging material is increasingly popular. While paper or other sheet stock material could be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheet material into a relatively lower density dunnage product. This conversion can be accomplished by a conversion machine, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,477. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present application and its entire disclosure is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The conversion machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,477 includes a conversion assembly that converts multi-ply stock material into a lower density dunnage product, and a stock supply assembly that supplies the multi-ply stock material to the conversion assembly. The conversion assembly includes a forming assembly that inwardly turns the lateral regions of the stock material as it travels downstream therethrough. As a result of this inward turning, the lateral regions of the stock material are subject to edge tension that sometimes results in ripping or tearing of the stock material at the lateral edges.